TOYOTA BRINGS THE FAST AND THE FAMOUS TO THE GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED

Some of the greatest machines and finest drivers from more than 50 years of Toyota international motorsport are being brought together for next week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Leading the way will be British race star Anthony Davidson with the Toyota Hybrid TS040, which has claimed two race victories and a hard-fought podium finish at the Le Mans 24 Hours to give Toyota Racing a commanding lead in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Davidson will be demonstrating the 1,000bhp sportscar’s turn of speed with runs on Goodwood’s hill climb course on Saturday and Sunday, with team-mate Stéphane Sarrazin due to take the wheel on Friday.

Toyota’s great rally heritage will be celebrated with some of the most successful cars from its years of dominance in the World Rally Championship. Björn Waldegård will be reunited with his formidable Group B Celica TA65 on Goodwood’s rally stage and former Toyota world champion Didier Auriol will take the wheel of a Tarmac-spec’ Corolla WRC on the hill.

In the festival’s “first glimpse” sessions on the hill, Toyota will be providing a sneak preview of the 2015 GT86, the latest development of its award-winning coupe.

The rally stage will witness speed runs from two further competition Celica generations – the ST185, which in its lifetime netted three WRC manufacturer championship titles, and the ST205. David Llewellin, a double British Rally Champion with Toyota, will be in action and the array of machinery will include the classic Team Toyota-liveried Midgley Motorsport Corolla AE86 and the nimble handling, earlier Corolla TE27. John Reid will be seen in his 1997 Corolla WRC, marking the culmination of Toyota’s world rally involvement.

It’s a far cry from the deserts of South America to the green slopes of the South Downs, but the Imperial Toyota Hilux will be displaying the toughness that took it to a class win and fourth place overall in this year’s Dakar Rally in the hands of South African rally-raid aces Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewtiz. It will be muscled around the festival course by British rally star Alister McRae.

Toyota has been a front-runner in American NASCAR racing for 10 years, competing with both Camry in the Sprint and Nationwide series, and the Tundra pick-up in the Truck championship. Three Camry and a Hilux, from Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing, will be adding some American noise and muscle to the festival.

Much quieter, but no less rapid, Toyota Motorsport’s EV P002 will be driven up the Goodwood hill by Jochen Krumbach. Krumbach broke the Nurburgring lap record for an electric vehicle with the EV P002 in 2012. The car is powered by two electric motors, giving 350kW and a top speed of 160mph.

Toyota will also have a public pavilion at the festival with an extensive display focusing on the GT86 coupe, in both road-going and competition form. The new Aygo city car will also be on show, together with Toyota Racing’s 2013 Toyota TS030 Hybrid, a double race-winner in the FIA World Endurance Championship.